First A Human, Then A Doctor

“You don’t have to [insert task]! You’re a [doctor, chief, senior]!” Many hospital workers have stopped me from mopping the operating room, taking out the trash, or even helping with relatively minor tasks because of my position. More recently, my own junior colleagues have tried to take on more of the workload because “seniors shouldn’t have to do [insert task].”

But this has never stopped me.

I don’t care if you’re a nurse, attending physician, resident, student, janitor, tech, or even a complete stranger – if I can help you, I will. Why? Because I’m a human first. And no human is too great or too powerful to help with tasks that are considered, by some, to be less-than-doctorly.

I encourage my colleagues to also find their humanity through humility and in the service to others. Any achievements along the way are just icing. 🙂